


A Fine Time To Fall In Love

by Vamppirre



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angels, F/M, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-04
Updated: 2012-07-04
Packaged: 2017-11-09 04:07:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/451078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vamppirre/pseuds/Vamppirre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I Don't know anything anymore." "Time is not a concept I truly understand from you humans." "I don't know if my family is alive," "We cannot allow the humans to keep this planet to themselves, " "My friends... Everything I know has changed." "We will end them. Everything they know of, is about to change."</p>
<p>(Summery is the thoughts of two characters)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fine Time To Fall In Love

**Author's Note:**

> "Speech" 'Thoughts in italics'

The year is 2014. I don't know the exact date anymore, I had lost the calender I'd found. It was warm, so I'd guess summer had come to town. The world didn't end like everyone had expected. There was no big asteroid that came colliding into the Earth. No Big Bad that came up from the ground. Although, if it had, I hadn't heard about it. There was however a bunch of mass killings and suicides. Too many for the police to handle. After a few week, even the cops were being killed.

 

Eventually, we lost the majority of our Comm towers and then the power grid for the entire East Coast. By that time, the citizens of New York City had become nothing but cannon fodder to the gangs that inhabited our streets, once the ones that lurked in the shadows, waiting to mug someone were Bloods or Crips or Kings. Those people were gone, replaced by religious zealots that would sooner hack you to pieces than pray for your immortal soul. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. 'How could something like this happen? Priests, Nuns and other church clergy in the streets, wearing other people's blood. A sick and twisted mind had corrupted them.

 

Before today I would have told you that I didn't believe in the existence of Angels. Even if you'd asked me now, I'd still say I didn't, but with what happened before the lights went out, I'd say we were wrong about them. Dead wrong.

 

My name is Tatyana, I have been on the run from **Them** for a little over 5 years, since I saw the members of my old church start killing each other. I say old because I'd converted to Wicca back in 2009. Basically, I became a witch. When They dropped- and I do mean dropped- from the sky, people were up in arms. _'Angels! Coming to Earth?! That must mean this is the end that the bible told us about. The Devil must be among man.'_

_  
_

Personally I didn't think too much of it at the time. I guess I was blinded by their beauty too, like a lot of people. They said they came to help us. I scoff to myself thinking back to that day I listened to Them on the T.V. Yeah, They wouldn't hurt us my ass. That's how all the planet invading creatures try to reassure us that if we trust them, nothing bad will happen. The months that followed made me doubt my initial reaction to Them. They cured the entire world. Made it healthy again, then they cured humans. AIDS, cancer, every ailment, gone and never to be seen again. I did start to believe that they may have been the good guys.

 

The next thing we hear on the news; church clergy massacres entire neighborhood. People though they'd just snapped, that church was located in a bad part of Brooklyn. A borough I didn't frequent. Police labeled it as a drug related killing. But then not even a week later and six more churches went on a rampage. It wasn't limited to just Brooklyn. Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, even Staten Island was affected. I look online and I see this isn't just happening in New York, but all over the globe.

 

The internet lit up with similar incidents happening on a global scale. I click on a link to a boy's V-blog site; a video is rolling of a nondescript church. One of the 'Angels' is glowing. Like a glow stick. An entire church is full and you can see people standing in the side and back isles of the church. The entire place goes silent for a while, not even the shooter is making a sound. then all of a sudden, the 'Angel' starts talking. "Kill them. Kill them all. You must do your Lord's work." The crowd repeats him. then this horrible black light pulses into them and they shake. the lights remove themselves and go back into the creature. You see the 'Angel' walk out of the church, the people following. It was a live feed from a guy's cellphone. I turn on the television onto a news channel and they've gotten a breaking story that a church not even three blocks away has gone on a killing spree in their surrounding neighborhoods.

 

I almost can't believe my eyes. I sent a quick message to the uploader and tell him that he should get out of there as soon as possible. I go back to his live feed to see he's gotten a move on out the church. I can tell when he reaches the back door. As soon as he walks out, he is grabbed up by something. He drops the phone and I watch in horror as one of the 'Angels' have him by the throat. It glows and then puts him back down. He stands like a zombie for a minute, then he screams. The creature ripped his head clean off his shoulders, like it was never even connected by bone.

 

The thing then looks at the phone, still recording and broadcasting to millions of viewers across the world. It tilts its head to the side, reminding me of a confused dog. The blood on its face almost looks sacrilegious. The eyes that stare out at us are the clearest blue, the lashes are a sooty black and thicker than any I'd seen before. A smooth complexion and straight nose make it look like a girl, but then it speaks. The voice deep and husky. "Watch on little humans, you cannot stop us now" The shivers I remember from that voice I will never forget. It's smile was sweet. "For I am your Angel of Death" The feed cut out.

 

I shut off my laptop and stuffed it in my book bag as fast as I could. It knew others were watching. 'He' knew others were watching. I looked out the window of the cafe I had stopped in, seeing massive amounts of people running into the small store, and locking the door behind them. "Fuck this shit!" I mutter to myself. No way I was going to stay here and wait to die. I crept out of the main area and into the kitchens and out the back door, making sure to close it firmly behind me. Even if they choose to stay inside, I shouldn't be the cause of their earlier deaths.

 

I climb on top of the closed dumpster and over a fence. There are still people running and screaming in the streets. I can hear them, my stomach wants to empty itself as I watch a woman get her throat sliced open by an elderly man in robes. On his face was a happy smile, it was wrong. When the man had moved on, so did I. I made my way through the backyards of houses, stopping and creeping along, while I could hear families being slaughtered inside their own homes. One house had the back door open, I thought about going in, seeing if anyone was inside and tell them what was going on. I heard a pained yell closer that I would have liked.

 

I ran into the house and shut the door, locking it as a precaution. I turned to face the dimness of the house. I heard only my own foot steps. I walked through a small kitchen and in the sink was a small knife. _'It beats a zer o' _something a neighbor used to tell me. I slowly turned the short hallway and stepped into a bloody scene. I covered my mouth to stop the bile from spewing from my mouth. What I thought was adults were scattered all over the room. An arm and the top of a skull were by my feet. I said a quick prayer to the Goddess to guide the souls to the other side and to give me strength to face what may lay ahead. I stepped over the parts and put my back against the wall, the pictures, splattered with blood made me tear up. I took a grounding breath and stepped onto the top stair. Three rooms were directly to the left of the stairs, the rooms were thrown open. I strained to hear something, anything living in the house. Further down the hall was a closed door. From underneath it, I could see movement. Another deep breath. I raised the knife in my hand and crouched low, in case someone had a gun. I turned the doorknob, the door opened silently.

 

In front of me was a woman, holding a knife above a cradle, he lowered it and began muttering to herself. "But it's just a baby, an innocent. No, It must die! I don't want to..." her inner struggle was vocalized. I raised my own knife with hers. I didn't hesitate in stabbing her into the spine, I felt the knife cut through the cord, between the bone. Her strangled gasp was the only sound that came from her mouth. I gently lowered the woman to the ground. "I will pray to the Goddess for your soul. Sleep now." A ghost of a smile was on her face as she shuttered and stilled. I pulled the small knife out with a fleshy sound and looked into the crib. A baby, not more than a few months old, maybe a year stared back at me. He had a tuft of golden hair on his head, covered by a small knit hat and almost violet blue eyes. "Hey little guy... How cute are you?" I press my fingers to the smiling face.

 

I gather as many diapers and baby stuff as I can, emptying my book bag. A bunch of baby food as well and and extra set of clothes. "Alright little fella, Let's see if I can't find you some way to get out of here." I looked around the room, a bright pink carrier was poking out of the closet. I looked at it and then at the boy. "They say real men wear pink..." Swaddling him as best as I could, I put him in the carrier and strapped him in. My book bag was lighter than it had been before, so I was able to manage with them both. I kissed the top of his head and covered it with his blanket. I send a prayer for the mass wave to be gone while walking down the stairs. _'Please let them be gone. I don't think I can run from an entire angry mob right now.'_ I peek around the open front door. The streets are so silent and recent dead litter the pavement. I keep my guard up, walking down the short steps and out onto the sidewalk.

 

I walk around the corner and stop short. Standing in front of me is the one of the so called 'Angels'. His back was to me, so I crept backwards. I flinched when my foot hit a glass bottle that then rolled into the street and broke. "Fuck me..." I murmured. Then he had to turn around,he was watching two people fight each other; one I'm assuming was being controlled and the other fighting for his life. The 'Angel looked at me and then at the baby I had hidden under the blanket. "Look, it's just a child. He has nothing to do with anything. Let us go. Please." My arms went around the child in front of me as he walked towards us, my feet were rooted to the ground. I flinched when he lifted his hand and put it on the boy's covered head and untucked the sheet. The baby blinked at him and laughed, grabbing his finger. His eyes widened and he tilted his head. I jumped when he suddenly looked at me. I was even more shocked when he spoke. "I will let you go this one time." I nodded and he covered the baby. "Take your child and go now. I will not aid you again." I almost wanted to correct him, but I thought better. "Thank you." I ran down the street to a running car and after some maneuvering, I was able to secure the child on the floor and hit the gas, the tires screeching and smoking. I glance back in the rear-view mirror and see him staring after us. I look ahead at the road, my main goal right now is to get the boy somewhere safe. I took him to my apartment. I needed to be better equipped for a baby.

 

Before the power grid had cut off, I'd gathered as much information on these things as I could. A small militia on Governor's Island said that they had killed one of the 'Angels'. "When it glows, it becomes momentarily weakened. That's, most likely the only chance you'll have to strike." The man goes on to say that there are some people who are naturally immune to the creatures, people around my age. Maybe age was a factor. The man didn't have enough time to get into further detail. The door to the room he was in, burst open and the man's head was shorn off by a blood stained woman. The scientist had fired a few good rounds into her, but it didn't make a difference, he was dead. She crumpled to the ground moments later.

 

When she fell another creature was behind her, looking at its fallen comrade with an unreadable look. It waved a hand over the dead one, light surrounding the both of them. When the light faded, the dead one stayed dead, but instead of a whole body, it was a dried out husk. Like one had sucked the power out of the other. It too looked at the camera feed. Walking up to the computer screen, it looked like the one from before, that had helped me and the baby. I thought maybe they all just looked the same. "Does it have wings...?" I mutter to myself. Almost as if it heard me, white feathered wings open behind him. "It has wings!" I gasped and moved from in front of my computer.

 

The only thing on my mind at that point was to stay alive. I had no idea where my grandmother was, and I wasn't going to wait until she got home either. I 'borrowed' her machete and put it in its case as well as some water and enough food for the baby to make the trip out of the city. Luckily, my granny's hording helped in that department. I secured the kid back in the front,, under the passenger seat and put everything else in the back seat. I, for the first time, drove away from everything I had ever known, into a world invaded by 'Angels', if someone had told me last week that I'd be caring for an orphaned kid while running from people being controlled by angels who want to end the human race, I most likely would have sent you to a hospital. Thinking back now, leaving was probably the best thing I could do.

 

~

 

Five years since I'd been in New York. The tall buildings I pass by now look so haunted, like they'd seen much more bloodshed than I. Knowing me, that might be likely. After leaving all those years ago, I found some survivors, immune people like me, living in a compound just below the border to Canada. When I had gotten there They told me everything they'd figured out from a scientific view so far. That The majority of the immune were in my age range, some older, some younger. There were other small factors, but since we had no real experienced scientists, there was only theory. However, there was a similarity between all of the non infected. It seemed that everyone there had had a run in with a particularly nasty infection. All around different times within their lives and it left them with lingering side effects, one of which was strange blood cells.

 

When I gave them a blood sample, they'd told me I was immune, like them, as was the baby. The sickness in my cells made it so that I couldn't be influenced by their light. I told them about what I'd seen and read before the sites went down. A few months later there was a whole bunch of training, seeing as how we needed to be able to defend ourselves from the turned human people who were out to kill us, I didn't argue very much. I also found an older woman, she'd been a teacher of some sort, her children had been killed during their escape of their city. I handed her the baby and its things. "I can't take care of him better than you could." At first she didn't want to take him, but I told her how I found him, she finally broke down and accepted her second chance.

 

I knew how to fend for myself, but I wanted to see my home again. See if anyone else had survived this long. Help them get to the safe place. All those years ago, I had driven all the way from the Bronx to Alexandria, New York. A few miles from the Canadian borders. I did what any New Yorker would do. I jumped a car and made it back to the city. I thought the streets would be full of abandoned cars. But they were strangely clear. I stopped in front of my old apartment building, the gate's lock broken, but the inner doors still opened to my key.

 

The hallways were silent. I began to miss the sounds and smells of the families cooking or watching television, now replaced by the stench of death. I walk up the stairs to the second floor, and open the door to the apartment I shared with my grandmother and another older woman. The key sliding easily into the lock of the door. The smell of muffled rotten food almost make me gag as soon as I walk into the kitchen. I glance dubiously at the three fridges and swear to myself to never open them again.

 

I walk further into the house, the floorboards creaking with my steps as I check the entire apartment before relaxing. I walk back into my old bedroom, the musty smell of clothes and books make me tear up. I look at the dust covered shelf full of romance novels I loved to read and reread over and over until I could recite them word for word. The bag Of makeup I left on the door handle, waiting for the next time I want to look pretty. I walk towards my dresser and smile sadly at the graduation cap I left hanging there. I had forgotten it on my day. I had been the only one hat-less and proud of it. The dust had covered the mirror so thickly, I didn't dare touch it with my own hands, so I grab up an old shirt and begin cleaning it off until I can see a perfect image of myself. I looked so different from what I'd remembered.

 

The last time I'd looked in a mirror was... I sigh and force my mind off that day. Like I had said earlier, the buildings have seen as much blood as I. I start poking around my room, looking for anything I wanted to take with me. Moving things around the first shelf, something jingles and falls to the bed. Gently sitting on the edge, I search through the sheets until I find it; a bracelet I'd made so long ago. the charms still attached and holding strong. the little gold leaves bravely sparkle as I clean it off with the shirt rag. I wrap and close it around my left wrist. The charms bouncing against each other, creating a tinkling sound that I know will be heard, but I can't bring myself to care.

 

Wiping my eyes from the gathering tears, I leave the room and apartment, softly closing the door behind me. as I'm walking down the stairs I hear the sound of someone breaking a window nearby. I pull my shirtsleeve down to keep the bracelet from making excessive noise and take a daring glance out the stairwell window. An 'Angel' is walking up the block, around the corner from the building. I silently curse myself for even staying so long. I move to the crevice underneath the stairwell and hide. _'I stay here for a few hours until it passes and then I get back in the car and drive the fuck back to dodge.'_ I tell myself. I poke the side of my head out from behind the stairwell and mentally curse again as I bring my face back around. The damn thing is in the complex. _'It must have seen the car and come to inspect.'_ I berate myself as the inner door opens without the noise of a key. _'Fuck my life. It can open locks.'_ Then the hallway door creaks open and shut. I hear soft footsteps walk closer and closer to the place where I hid. My ears strained and I heard it, the sound of clothes rustling and hitting the floor. My eyes widen. _'It can take of its clothes?'_ I blinked. Flashes of all the images I'd seen of the creatures. I hadn't noticed the robes before. Not conscientiously anyway. Gathering all the courage I had in my body, I peeked just over the stairs again. Its back was to me. I silently thanked every god and goddess in my head, that it thought it was alone.

 

I got my first chance to really look at the thing. The 'Angels' were a real work of art, whatever made them did a perfect job. All of the feeds had pictures of various ones. They didn't have names, per se, but they did call themselves different things like; Angel of Death, for instance. It seemed he liked attention, he was most interested in technology, but after the feeds had gone offline, I didn't think he had as much fun anymore. Back to checking out the 'Angel'. They all had looked so androgynous, it was hard to tell them apart unless they spoke. Even then, it wasn't easy. I took in the wide shoulders and tapered waist, the other half of its robe kept me from having to look at its ass (blessing or curse, I don't know).

 

I notice two barely visible slits in its back. Wing sacks? A braid of long hair is thrown over the shoulder and I look at what its doing. It -he- is looking in a small mirror at himself. touching his face, making different faces. I almost smile. How is it possible for such a dangerous creature to make a person forget how extremely hazardous it is to a human life. Like a poisonous flower that attracts birds and insects to their deaths with a sweet scent. I shake my head to clear my thoughts, stilling as the action jiggles my bracelet loose from my sleeve, where it sat silent until now.

 

The 'Angel' stiffens and looks around slowly. The light tinkling was the only sound save for my racing heart. How would it look for me to die all because of some damn bracelet. "Human?" The deep voice sent chills down my spine. I even felt some of the vertebrae crack with the force of my shaking. No doubt he heard that too. "I hear you human. You should come out. I will make your end as swift as possible." _'You'll extend it for as long as you can. There aren't many humans left, and the only ones are immune to you.'_ I thought to myself. After all these years of training my body, I am still betrayed by it.

 

The footsteps start again. I glance to my right. I see his feet. His goddamn toes! On the off hand, I glare at them for a microsecond. _'He walks barefoot for who knows how long and his feet look so much fucking better than mine!'_ I almost jump out of my skin when a banging on the door, makes him hiss. I hear the door open and multiple feet rush in. "We have found a small group hiding in the next building, on the end of this street." These newcomers were human. Deluded they may be, but they were easy to evade or eliminate. The only thing I would have to worry about would be the thing that can grow wings.

 

I hear a soft sigh and the rustle of clothes ad the 'Angel' walks out with the group of controlled humans. It stops and speaks to one of them. "Stay here and search for any humans. I thought I heard something before you walked in." The person only said "Yes." and that was it. I waited until the person got closer to the stairs. _'Of course he would look here first...'_ I moved into a battle position in my crouch. As soon as he bent down, I swung my left foot out. It connected with his face, I could hear the sickening crunch of his nose colliding with my boot. He fell over and didn't move again. I eased out of my hiding spot and looked to make sure there hadn't been another one left behind. It was clear. To help my own conscious, I checked the man's pulse. Strong and steady. Thank you Doc Martens.

 

I wiped the small amount of blood off my boot with his shirt, turned back for my back pack and snuck out the apartment complex. Checking to make sure the streets were clear of any winged creatures or controlled humans. Looked clear. I made a mad dash to the car I'd stolen to get into the town. I peel off the main street and onto a side street. The roads are clear as I drive further into the Bronx, up town to my Aunt's home. Hoping they're immune as I am. If not... I try not to dwell on the thought.

 

~

 

The school for the blind sits across the street from my aunt's house. The Pristine white stone cross now has faded stains of blood. The same stains paint the inside of a school bus, parked in front of its doors. I almost want to stop and cry, but I take a deep breath and walk towards my aunt's house. My Aunt, Joy, is my grandmother's only daughter, my only aunt. I walk past the broken, white gate and up the stairs. Before I get to the top, I can already feel the dread curling in my stomach. The door isn't even on it's hinges.

 

I step past whats left of the inner wooden door and choke. Blood splatter and bloody hand prints are all over everything. The walls, the tables, fridge. I shut my eyes at the imagined chaos that must have happened. I leave the kitchen and walk into the bedrooms in the back. I see the bloody sheets, but no bodies. _'Too much blood lost to be alive.'_ I think to myself sadly. Walking back to the front of the house, I look at the door that led to the bottom half of the house, as well as the basement. As a rule of thumb, I never go into basements or attics. It makes it easier to be cornered. I stare at the door for what felt like an eternity before finally opening it. I started down the steps, my feet, slow and my grip on the machete I pulled from my bag. I reach the second level and checked it. I noticed a case of water sitting on the small table. Half my mind said it's a trap, the other said, they had most likely just come from shopping. My mouth had gotten so dry. Now even my hair was telling me it was a trap. I could feel my stomach start to cramp.

 

"Dammit..." I slowly crept towards the plastic wrapped package, ran a sharp nail through the covering with relative ease. So far, so good. Maybe I was just overreacting. I took out a few bottles and stuffed them in my bag. Rather than risking my luck further, I quickly moved out the empty house, stopping only to take a single picture album from the shelf on the wall. I zipped my bag and walked over the splintered wood of the front door and got back into the car. The sun had started to set. This was the worst time to be outside.

 

The controlled humans went hunting this time of night.

 

I drove about a mile down into the projects. Where a cousin of mine lived. I prayed that I wouldn't find blood splatters, or dead, decaying bodies. I pulled open the heavy metal door. Once again I am met with empty hallways of blood, open doors and the stench of rotting things. I walk up the five flights to the apartment and open the locks (thank gods) with the key that still fit into the jamb. I softly shut the door and put back on all the locks. The house gets dimmer and dimmer by the minute, but I get just enough time to check the rooms and find nothing. It gives me hope. But it's safer to think only of the false kind. I take off my book bag and sit down on the futon, the frame made a very loud squeak, I jumped up and cursed under my breath. I'd forgotten about that. I trudge into the living room and throw myself on the leather couch, barely making a single sound. I close my eyes, the exhaustion of the week I'd had catching up with me.

 

The blood soaked sheets and bodies of my family haunt my dreams for a while. Then I see 'him'. He's standing over me, he reaches to jingle the charms and bells on my bracelet. His head tilts and he glows softly. I start to feel the warmth. I blink at the dream. 'Lucid dreaming?' I wonder to myself for a moment, then he touches my wrist. I jack-knifed so hard off the couch, I think I gave myself whiplash or pulled a muscle. I'm on the other side of the room, my back against the wall. Wishing like hell I'd thought to sleep with a weapon, I look warily as he holds out his right hand in front of himself. We stand like this for a few heartbeats and he looks from me to his hand and back again. "Humans shake hands in greeting, do they not?" My eyes widen and I gape openly at the 'Angel' It's him. Again! The one that calls himself the 'Angel of Death'."You're- I saw you- How...?" His hand still extended, he tilts his head once more, the golden hair falling softly into his face. I can feel the heat of a glare rolling through my eye sockets. "I followed you. It was easy enough. Will you not shake my pro offered hand in a proper greeting?" I looked down at his palm briefly, then back to his face. Doing two of the most stupidest things of my time, I inched closer to him and glided my hands over the soft palms. It was far from warm, but not quite cold. When his fingers curled over mine, I tried to jerked mine away. He must have anticipated it because his grasp tightened. My body went cold.

 

"Why are you so cold?" His head tilted again, this time his hair fell from behind his shoulder. I stared at the dark brown and bright golden yellow locks, contrasting each other. "Why are you killing innocent people?" My voice more breathless than I had hoped, but it was unwavering. He blinked, still holding my hand firmly. "I have my reasons." He started touching the back of my hand with his left. "Your flesh is much colder than the others of your race. Not the living ones at least." I want to roll my eyes. But that may be why he kills people, I have no idea how to get myself out of this situation. So I play along.

 

"What are you doing?" his hands are really distracting, his nails grazing the top of my hand and inner wrist. I flinch as he glides over healed cuts. His eyes remain on my face until he turns my palm up. "You have many scars here. Why?" I open my mouth, but I don't say anything. If I say 'Because I was trying to kill myself' , he might do the favor for me. So I respond, "They're old cuts." My pulse thrums against the skin at the bottom of my palm, where it and my wrist meet. "I asked why." His voice deepened. Was he getting angry? His face nor eyes betrayed anything readable, so I had nothing to base a guess on. "I did them when I was angry." "If you were angry, why did you not take your anger out on what it was that made you angry?" At that very moment, my head itched, then it traveled down to my right side. I didn't want to make any unnecessary movement, so I prayed for it to go away. "If I took out my feelings on another person, than I would be just as bad or worse than them," I could feel the coldness in me now. "I would deserve any anger they would take out on me."

 

Finally he let my hand go and again I plastered myself onto the wall once again. "You fear me." Not a question. "What, you expect me to fall to my knees in worship and kiss our feet or something?" I look at his feet, there were like the rest of him, perfect. "All of your kind fall to their knees before us, one way or another." He started to glow softly, it felt like it should be warm, like a breeze carried on the wind that reminds you summer is coming. Aside from the false warmth, I felt nothing. "Come to me." I hesitated. The thought that I really was immune crossed my mind, quickly followed by what They do to the people who cannot be controlled by their powers. He glowed a fraction brighter, and repeated himself. "Come to me now, human." He held out his hand. If I pretend to be under his control, I have a window of opportunity to make a break for it as soon as I get close to the car I drove here.

 

I look at the too beautiful face and into stormy azure eyes. I walked closer and put my hand in his. His hot hand wrapped around my freezing one. His heat not transferring. His other hand cupped my cheek. I felt proud of myself when I didn't flinch. His thumb brushed over my cheekbone, his pinky rested on my throat. He skimmed his fingers down to my collarbone, then his fingertips ghosted over my lips, the digits stopping in the corner of my mouth. "What are you called, girl?" "Tatyana." He tilted his head. "Tatyana..." Its like he savors my name on his tongue. I wonder if he's ever asked another person's name or if he just took over their minds. The confusion must have escaped onto my face, because he started rubbing my hand. "You may call me Angel of Death." My turn to tilt my head. I feel so proud of myself. "Azrael..." a genuine smile turns my lips upward. I can feel it. "What?"

 

For the first time, his brows furrow into a slight frown, looking more like a pout. "Azrael is the name of the Angel of Death. Also what I had wanted to name my first child. The Angel of Death can also be called Abaddon, Samael, Michael, but only in some versions of the bible, then there is the Hispanic version called Santa Muerte plus a great number of-" His hand covered my mouth. "You have much knowledge. You may call me Azrael. After your child." _'Play your part girl.'_ I chant in the back of my head. "I have no children. It is the name I had planed for my first child when it is born." He looked at me for a moment, I plastered a very fake smile on my face, still very aware that his hands had not left my person, but I was finally relieved when he released me. "Tatyana, come with me." He turned around and headed for the door. I picked up my bag that sat at the end of the couch. He looked at it and gave curious stare. I guess others have taken things important to them too. All I had in it were the most precious things that I had left in the world. Pictures of my family and me.

 

I followed him out the door. He actually held it open for me, making me feel mildly bad about what I was going to do when we got outside. The night air had a hint of blood on it, fresh blood. I'd rather not go into detail as to how I became used to it. But yeah, I saw the car and carefully inched the key from my pocket. He suddenly stopped and I almost walked right into his back. When he turned around, I took a step back. "Why did you travel so far and stop in different places? I remember you from years ago, when we first took over. Do you remember my face?"

 

That was the longest I had heard him speak. Might as well keep this moving along. I'm a little further than I would like. I took a deep breath. "Yes, I remember you. You let us go; me and a baby." "Then that was not a child from your loins?" I shook my head. "I found him." He stared at me, his eyes dark and then he turned back around and continued walking. I was now yards away from the damned car. I was going to burn serious rubber. He kept silent and walked past the car, I stopped and hurriedly opened the door. I stuck the keys in and turned the engine. I looked up and he was there, his eyes like blue fire. My foot hit carpet and I sped off.

 

I managed to lose him at an underpass, getting out and running into a different car on the other side. A very nice little coup. Too bad I had no idea how to drive stick, I opted for a matte black Hummer HT3. I ducked and stayed still as I heard the 'Angel' fly around, supposing I might still be hiding in the underpass. The sound he made while flying over head was like a jet, my ears were still ringing while I jumped the small truck. I ended up going out of the Bronx, into New York State. Once again, there was no traffic, something that was getting to be something I missed. It was like when the 'Angels' had taken over, people made everything as convenient as possible for them. It helped when their mind control was damn near unbreakable. I hit the breaks hard when I nearly hit a tree. At the rate I was going, I was shocked I hadn't keeled over hours ago. I had gone three entire days without any sleep whatsoever and then a damn monster comes and ruins my nap. Now I'm sitting here dazing out.I pulled into the large barn that came up on the side of the road. I looked around the inside while still in the truck. It wouldn't do for me to get eaten by some wild animal after saving my own life from an evil otherworldly being. Just bad manners.

 

Everything looked clear, but just to be safe, I backed into a very large stall and locked the doors and opened the window a crack. I killed the ignition and crawled into the back, hunkering down to get some shut eye. I had hoped my mind was far too exhausted to come up with any dreams tonight, but it looks like I was wrong.

 

I was grateful not to see the bodies or hear the screams. It was of happy times. I was younger and I could hear the sound of children playing in the park. I was sitting under a large tree, its branches spread wide and saving me from the shade. I looked down beside me, there is a book, open on some non distinct page, a ball and an open basket, with food inside it. I calmly smile and lean my head back against the bark of the tree, I could feel the texture snagging at a few strands of hair. I remember this dream. The child I hear is my son, the one I envision myself having. Dark brown hair like mine and a fair complexion with a smiling bow mouth. I don't try to focus my eyes on what's in the light, it makes the dream disappear, so I let him come to me. I hear the sound of a small boy's laughter coming closer and I smile.

 

It goes away when the dark haired little boy I had always dreamt about was replaced with a blonde one. Everything is the same except his hair and his eyes. The hair was golden streaked with light brown and his eyes. Those eyes... The boy smiled up at me from where he was sitting on my lap and then he looked back into the light. A man came out of it. I wanted to curse, but I couldn't move anymore. My body stayed relaxed, even though I was fighting to get up and run, to leave these strangers behind. The man walked closer and sat down beside us, he lifted his hand to the boy, who jumped from my lap into his. Then he reached out again. I looked at his face, unnatural blue eyes stared out at me. I closed mine and focused on my jaw, getting it to move. I didn't have to though, the man spoke. "Tatyana, take my hand." It was his voice, the one that calls himself the Angel of Death. "No." I did it, I spoke. "You could have all of this." He gestured out into the light of the park, the dream constructing the entire thing; the trees and sounds and smells. "I don't want a dream. I want the real thing." He looked at me. "I can give all this to you," he rubbed the little boys golden and brown locks. "A beautiful son, a place to call your own. No one will bother you again." I snorted "If I wanted to not be bothered, I'd have killed myself a long time ago." I willed the dream to end, everything evaporating like clouds, all except him.   
  


"Why are you here? In my head?" I ask him, we're both standing only a few feet away from each other. He looked around the darkness in my mind. "I cannot rid my mind of you. You intrigue me to the point of being distracting." he looked back at me. "I have not yet met another human like you. The things I see in your head, while we're like this... Amazing. So much knowledge and chaos. Not many of the humans I have linked with had such an odd mind. None in fact." I raised a brow.

 

"So you followed me for years?" He tilted his head. "Not years. But yes, I have looked for you since we first saw each other. You are not like the other humans that are immune to us." he stalked around me. "You must have noticed by now, that others of you kind are hardly around any longer. Do you not wish to know why?" I felt him brush through the hair that hung freely down my back. "It has gotten longer since I first saw you." His fingers now brushing against my nape. "Fine, what's happened to the human race?" I growl. I can feel his lips near my ear now. "Most are dead, others who are more useful, are allowed to live and breed. Making more useful humans." He finally walks back in front of me and we stare at each other. "So you killed some and make the rest our slaves, basically." I crossed my arms under my chest, having an already large bust, made going over painful. His eyes strayed down, but came back up. "Not killed, we must eat as well." I griminced. "You eat humans?" "Only the ones that are safe to eat. You humans ingest many toxic things."

 

The view in my mind changed from complete darkness to something akin to a rain forest. I look back at Azrael, his sight is still trained on me. "Where are we?" I ask. "This place is one of the many we saved from you humans. We are currently in the middle of what you know as the Saharan Desert, before humans existed, it was a lush oasis." He caressed a bright purple, white and red flower. "When humans happened upon this place, they began destroying it. This flower, it can heal any ailment." Azrael frowned "The side affects it causes are slightly extended life periods when ingested, you can guess what happened to them all." The glare he sent my way made me flinch. "Look, I get it. Humanity has its downfalls, honestly I know. But still, who the hell are you to come and take over our world?" I almost flinched again when he suddenly stood in front of me again. "This has never been your world. We merely left you behind." Azrael brushed the same hand he'd been touching the flower with across my cheek, "Had we known you would cause such damage, we would have destroyed you before you learned to use your brains. You have evolved into different, much less hairy creatures."

 

I sighed and leaned away from the hand, a tingling in my cheek left behind. I decided not to think too much about that. "So you're basically saying that we were some sort of failed, escaped science experiment to you guys? That we don't matter?" He shrugged. "Not exactly, more escaped than failed." I threw up my arms with an exasperated sound. "Oh that makes it much better!" I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a partial headache coming on. "Your kind is even more headache inducing than I had ever imagined." I muttered.

 

All of a sudden, warm hands cradled my temples and the pain vanished, along with any traces of tiredness in my mind. I opened my eyes to see Azrael, with a concentrating look on his face. Then the look was gone. "You are better?" "Yeah..." I snapped out of it and knocked his hands away from my face, now the tingling went further down. I could feel the heat in my face burst. "Why do your cheeks change color?" an innocent question. I look at his eyes, bright blue orbs. Not so innocent when he knows the answer already. "Why did you bring me here?" The corner of his mouth twitched the slightest.

 

"This is the last thing your kind sees before we kill them. They're minds and souls become trapped in these places." I cocked my head, "Trapped? How do they get stuck here, isn't this like a dream world or something?" He nodded, "It is a world, not necessarily one of your dreams, though." He walked closer to me, touching more plants. "I suppose you would call this 'the afterlife'. It is another plane of existence that lies aside the one that you know of." "Oh..." I rub my chin. "So this is the other side of the veil? Got to say, I like the decorating." "It is not the same view for all humans. What you see is the most beautiful garden you can imagine, to others it could be an endless desert or an ocean full of sharks and a sinking boat." "We make our own heaven and hell." He nodded again.

 

"We decide what to do with the human soul, when we decide to kill them." I look at him. I want to wake up now. Right now. I didn't want to be here in the spirit trap another minute. "How do I get out of here? I want to wake up." I start to pinch myself, the pain of it blooms, but nothing else happens. "You wish to leave? I wish to find you." Azrael grabs my wrist. "I will not release you until I have found where you have hidden yourself." Now would be a perfect time to panic, but of course, that doesn't happen around him.

 

I try to twist my arm out of the iron grasp, all that did was give me a burn. I shut my eyes. This is supposed to be my heaven, my little part of the veil, so... I opened my eyes to find him a breath away. Our lips barely grazing, a warmth settles in my stomach. I could see the shock in his eyes too, what was more shocking was when he leaned in more. His lips pressed softly against mine. I don't think it was me that made that little sound, momentarily I forgot about trying to get out of the veil and leaned into the kiss too. Don't get me wrong, I'd never been kissed. At 23, I was pretty deprived. I felt something at my back, could have been a tree, I didn't care much at the moment.

 

He groaned low in his throat and attacked my mouth hungrily. He released my arm and moved it to my hair, gripping the back of my neck, his other hand clutched my thigh around his waist. My hands took it upon themselves to grab into his hair, tugging the locks closer, bringing another moan out of our mouths. I felt his tongue moving against the seam of my lips. I pulled back, looked at the wet, red lips and into those Azure eyes. "Damn..." I dove back in, pressing my pelvis up into him while opening my mouth to his questing tongue. I could feel his erection through our clothes, I almost considered stopping again to see what the hell he looked like under the robe, but a loud growl stopped my heart in my chest. I could see his eyes mirroring the confusion in mine. I looked over his shoulder and felt the blood drain out of my entire body. He slowly let my legs slide down his body, causing a few sparks of arousal to run through my body before disappearing completely. I could see the same was for him.

 

Azrael turned around and faced the intruder. "Brother," the other 'Angel' started. "You normally do not play with your food such. Have you completed the ritual to keep her here, or have you other plan for the human girl?" I don't know what pissed me off more, the fact that Azrael was trying to trap me or that the other 'Angel' called me a girl. I was a woman goddammit. I was leaning more towards the whole trap thing. "Michael, I will do with her, what I please. You interrupted me. I was almost finished with the ritual, now I must begin again." Michael looked over his shoulder at me. "I call you a girl because you've yet to be touched by a man." Motherfucker knew I still had a V card?! I really wish a huge monster would just come and jump his ass.

 

A shriek split through the air, an Alien came running at Michael. I blinked. "Well that worked..." I turned and started running away from the scene, hoping to get enough time to wake up from the veil. I turned to look back right as a bright light enveloped the area, blinding me. I shot up in the car cab, my eyes wildly searching for any sign of danger. The brightness of the moon, the only thing allowing me to see in the pitch darkness of the city. Maybe coming back wasn't such a good idea. I rubbed fists over my eyes, rubbing out the sleep. I gasp when the rotating movement causes a sting at my wrist.

 

The burn from Azrael is there, I turned my thigh to face the moonlight, against the paleness of my thigh is the imprint of his hand. I could bet my lips look like I'd been smooching for hours, I can feel the slight burn coming from them. So that wasn't a dream. I touch my still tingling lips and close my eyes. Now I have to start moving again. As I drive on my way back out of the city, I can't help but think about Michael. If he hadn't stepped in, I really don't know what would have happened. I pass the island of Manhattan and finally leave New York behind, but instead of driving north, I go south. My mind turns back to my family and friends. My hope still lingering in my heart. At least one person. I sent up prayers to whoever is listening, to find at least one person I know.

 

 

~~~

 

 

This is the first chapter of an original story. Tell me what you think.

**Author's Note:**

> The characters in this story are of my own creation, came to me when I saw a scholarship essay prompt. I hadn't thought to think about this sub-genre before.


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